Rowan Williams – moral heart of the nation or beardie twat?

Dr Rowan Williams has requested a meeting with the Zimbabwean president when he travels to Harare as part of a tour of the south of the continent, according to his spokeswoman.

Dr Williams, who will become the first prominent British representative to visit Zimbabwe’s capital in a decade, is making the journey in an attempt to ”show solidarity” with Anglicans in the region, she added.

In recent months priests are said to have been beaten and arrested by police, staff evicted from church buildings and property seized, while some Anglicans have allegedly been arrested and murdered.

So he’s taking a team of the SAS, the Marines, the Paras, the Girls Brigade?

Some have questioned whether Dr Williams would make the trip due to the violent regime, but Lambeth Palace said there had never been any debate over the matter.

Really? You know if I were to meet a genocidal maniac I’d have a chat with folk first – mainly those who know subtle ways of killing. If I want to buy a Coke – fine but meeting Africa’s foremost dictator (now Muammar is on the back foot) is not buying a Coke.

The Archbishop’s spokeswoman, who confirmed he will also visit Malawi and Zambia during the trip, said the recent persecution is ”more of a reason to go because people need more pastoral care”.

If you ask me they need the heavily armed “technicals” which God hopes will soon be surplus in Libya but Dr Williams didn’t ask me. He never does.

She said: ”The aim of the trip as a whole is a pastoral visit and it’s to show solidarity with Anglicans there, that’s really the aim of the trip.”

So, Dr Williams you’re going to pray with a woman who was raped by Mugabe’s thugs and her husband “disappeared”. That might be an awkward TV opportunity. I appreciate as a Christian (allegedly) you’re more New Testament but in the case of Mugabe might I suggest some smiting might be in order. Just a side order of it.

Because of the 100 trillion dollar notes that were not worth the paper it was printed on.

Because of the “beautification schemes” that destroyed people’s homes. Homes with phone lines and electricity.

Because of this guy…

Who couldn’t buy a Coke even with that. And that is before it went into dazzling levels of mathematics.

Because Mugabe wrecked a prosperous country and reduced it to penury.

Because he said it would be better off with fewer people. Where have we heard that before?

Because of the theft of farms and the resultant starvation in some of the richest agricultural land in Africa.

Because of the torture, the rape, the killings, the Hitler ‘tache.

Because of Grace Mugabe’s shopping trips to Paris which were genuine “Marie-Antoinette moments”. The original never said anything about cake. Mrs Mugabe took a Boeing. For herself entire.

Because Dr Williams you are going to meet a man who kills your flock. And you requested this meeting. Do you think the Chief Rabbi supplicated himself to Hitler in ’39? I know I’m Godwining myself but…

Dr Chad Gandiya, the Bishop of Harare, told The Times he hoped the visit would bring respite to the Zimbabwean Church.

Oh, Hell!

Referring to Dr Williams’ visit he added: ”He is visiting the province. He is going to Malawi and from there he is coming to Zimbabwe. It is a pastoral visit, it is not a political visit.

Dr Gandiya either has a boot on his neck or he is as mad as Dr Williams.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, cut up his clerical dog collar in 2007 in protest at the regime of President Mugabe, saying he would not wear it again until the president had left office.

I had a theory that the only way Rowan could get himself onto the front pages was by saying barking mad things. I felt somewhat vindicated when he announced that he thought some aspects of sharia law should be enshrined in english law.

Then, I remember him, in his holiest voice, praying for ‘peace in the holy land’, and thinking that a good start would be to stop calling it that.
Even Dawkins used the expression ‘the holy land’, repeatedly, which made me flinch, repeatedly. So unless he has an Acme holy-o-meter that goes beep when he points it at the ground, he should stop calling it that too.

Rowena Williams (well what else would you call a bloke who wears a dress?) isn’t a beardy twat. Beardy twattishness makes him sound like a has a case of mildy embarrassing eccentricity. Beardy half-baked cunt, on the other hand…

“Pastoral visit” my arse. The comfort that a clergyman can provide to the faithful means fuck-all if there’s also something practical he can do but doesn’t. Williams should be – excuse the expression – raising hell about the plight of Anglicans in Zimbabwe (although I’m not surprised, this is the first I’ve heard of it), not going over there to provide Fat Bob with photo-ops for his propaganda.

Counting Cats (CC) was taken to task by several other commenters for being too squeamish and perhaps even morally neutral about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys here. While I don't share CC's reaction to the video, I rejoice in his (her?) existence. What kind of a world would it be if people like CC didn't exist or if they had to hide their views? Who knows, we might all be living in something akin to Somalia.
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CC's civilized response is precisely why our military is a force for good in the world.